This is Alejandro from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and wow, what a determined teen! In a year and a half, he gained 17 pounds. He was tired of being weak and decided to do something about it. He did lots of research, made a plan, and executed! Incredible determination, perseverance, and willpower. Adding 17 pounds to his 127 pound frame made a huge difference. Its important to note that that this kind of 18 month gain is not typical, its a combination of a natural teen growth spurt in conjunction with weight training and good nutrition. Congratulations Alejandro!!
Alejandro writes:
“Hello Scooby! my name is Alejandro and i live in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. I just turned 16 in december and from the age of 13 I always wanted to be strong and muscular, so I started working out, but I knew nothing about a good diet, correct posture in exercises, or realistic expectations. As a result I was often injured or frustrated and, so stopped working out. When I was 14 and a half I decided to give it another shot, but this time I decided to do some research and that is how I came to one of your videos on youtube, I beleive it was the 6-pack vid, where you discuss how there is no 3 min workout for 6pack abs, no shortcuts, and where you say the key is in cardio, ab exercises and nutrition. I immediately went into your website and started to fill up with all the information you provide there. One thing you mention that helped me keep going is how genetics affect your progress. I have terrible genetics; most men in my family have extremely narrow shoulders, short skinny arms, and a large amount of fat. As did I (as you can see in my before picture, taken june 2009, I was 14), until I found your website and followed the advice you provide there. I completely altered my nutrition; I started taking 6 small well balanced meals a day, stopped eating junk food, substituted sodas and sugary juices for water and non fat milk, started eating whole grains, vegetables, and small doses of fruit in each meal, and I started to take in more protein and less fat. Besides my diet, I improved my workout routine; I stopped wasting my time with “the perfect pushup” and – hour and a half – long ab workouts, instead I started doing – hour and a half – or more of cardio every single day, and I did your teen workout three times a week. Many of my classmated who found out about me working out, just laughed and said I wouldn’t make it. After a year and a half of vigorous work and a complete change in my eating and working out habits, I laugh at them now JAJA. Thanks to you, I feel better about myself and mybody.. MUCH BETTER!, and I’m in a much better mood than I used to be in (I was always mad and grumpy, cause I couldn’t sleep, but working out has helped me sleep better). I think even better than my transformation, is my increase in athletic ability. At soccer I used to be bench.. to kids younger than me. Now i play full time; if i play bench it’s because I’m playing with the 18 year old team and even then I many times bench an 18 year old. I have also become a very good swimmer and am starting to train for mixed martial arts. Also, i can play any sports with my friends, even if i never or rarely play it, because i’ve become a very good, well rounded, athlete and my coaches are always congratulating me and getting me into programs and competitions because of my “incredible” gains in strenght, speed, and agility. If i get an athletic scholarship, i owe a HUGE part to you and your site. I plan to keep working out and mantaining a good diet all my life, and also update you with my results’when I’m 17 I want to send another after pic (using the after pic in this email as my before pic) and see how i’ve progressed. Honestly I can’t thank you eneugh for your generosity, dedication, hard work, and big heart man. Thanks to your willingness to make this website to help people be fit is that i’ve made it this far. Bodybuilding has taught me resiliency, dedication, to never give up, always put your heart in what you do, and that with hard work ANYTHING is possible. Thank you… and i hope i didn’t take up too much of your time with this sermon :P Thank you.
BTW: I’m testimony of weightlifting NOT STUNTING GROWTH!!! I started doing so when I was 14 and 5’6, I’m now 16 and 5’9, in any case, weightlifting helped me grow. Only reason i’m short is because of genetics (men in my family don’t pass 6 feet).”